Chapter 1

“Hey there! Can I just have a...I’ll go with a Sierra Nevada Pale ale, please-and-thanks. Let’s keep it open if you could, please.” Mike slid his card to the bartender with a smile. He hung his bag on the back of his stool and draped his suit jacket over it.

Good stuff as always, Mike, his phone read, we’ve got a few things to finish up on our end tomorrow but things are looking good--we’ll be in touch early next week. Have a great weekend and thanks again for coming in.

As he leaned back into his seat and put his phone face-down on the bar, he let out a deep sigh of relief which served as his admission into Happy Hour. The ambient murmur distilled as his eyes bounced around the bar from party to party: a group of guys in the corner clinking full glasses, a group to his right roaring in response to a joke, and a woman at the far right end wrapping up a conversation who must have been her superior. “Must be business casual night” Mike said under his breath.

The bartender placed a frosty glass of amber in front of him. “Your Sierra, my friend,” he said. “You here for the same conference as the rest of these guys?”

“Ha, doesn’t sound like it, here for a meeting with one of my bigger clients. Had an old work buddy recommend this place, I usually just hit the hotel bar.”

“Smart friend! We’ve got the frostiest pint glasses in Charlotte. Name’s Rick. Anything else I can get for ya? Kitchen menu?”

“You’re a good dude, Rick. I’m Mike, nice to meet ya. Menu would be great actually, appreciate it. Also, I don’t know if you’re able to do this, but I think the Thursday Night Football game starts in about an hour or so. Are you able to change one of these channels to ESPN?”

“Ah no problem, brother. Get you a menu and I’ll change this TV in a second.”

“Thanks, Rick.”

Mike picked up the glass and gestured to the group next to him. “Hey guys, Happy Friday Eve.”

“Friday Eve, yes!” one of the men howled. The rest broke into laughter as they lifted their glasses and giggled through their sips. Mike took a sip and sank deeper into his seat.

“Got the pre-game for ya right here, boss. How’s that?” Rick pointed with the remote.

“You’re the man, Rick. Appreciate it. Gotta say, this frosty glass is exactly what I needed.”

“Glad to hear, enjoy!”

Mike again took attendance of the bar, trying to guess what each group did for a living. The group next to him was certainly in for the conference Rick mentioned. They were all too happy for it to still be a Thursday--they were clearly drinking on the company dime. Their overzealous interactions with one another was another sure sign they weren’t close friends but were doing their best to bond.

The guys in the corner gave Mike the impression they were locals. They were dressed down a bit and owned their area like it was “their” corner. Their dress wasn’t that of a group of men looking to network at a conference--they were comfortable.

The group to his right again erupted in laughter. Mike caught the eye of the woman to the far right as they watched on. She gave Mike a sarcastic expression of surprise, and Mike reciprocated.

Mike sipped his beer slowly as he watched along with the pre-game show on TV. Jaguars-Dolphins was far from a barn-burner, but “football is football,” he’d always say. He got lost thinking about his pitch earlier in the day when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

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“Hey, buddy, I’m Greg,” a tall bald man next to him slurred. “Who are you here with this week?”

“Hey Greg, Mike. Yeah!” Mike stood to shake his hand “That’s really funny, bartender was saying there’s a big trade show or something going on here this week, I’m actually here on a pitch. Funny coincidence, I was thinking I probably look like I blend right in!”

“Oh that’s so funny! Well I wanted to introduce myself in case you thought we were crazy or something!” Holding his glass high and tight with both hands, Greg gestured to his group and laughed as if he had told a joke. “I’m here with my team. There’s Hakim, he’s Jose, and this one’s Allie.”

“Very cool! I’m Mike, nice to meet everyone. You guys wrapping up for the week or do you have more tomorrow.”

“A little more tomorrow,” Hakim said as they again broke into laughter.

“We’re not gonna feel too good in the morning, are we, team?” Greg shouted as his team, teetering on the edge of hysteria, cackled on. Mike picked up his glass and gestured to Rick for another drink as he continued his conversation with his new acquaintances.

Mike looked up at the TV to check the game: 12 minutes left in the first quarter.

“Big football fan?” Greg asked.

“Oh yeah, big fan!” Mike said, somehow eliciting a laugh from Greg. “Honestly don’t really care for either of these teams, though, but I watch whenever I can.”
“So who’s playing? I see MIA and JAX?”

“You got it! That’s the Miami Dolphins and and the Jacksonville Jaguars”

“Oh that’s right,” Greg said, “I think I remember that Jaguars team from the Super Bowl a few years ago. Maybe that’s it.”

“Hm, yeah you could be right about that!” Mike conceded. He caught Jose smirking across the circle.

“Well team,” Greg went on, “I know I’m going to be paying for this one in the morning. Gotta finish the week strong!” his team laughed. “I’m going to head back for the night, I’ll see you all in the morning. Don’t get too crazy, guys!”

Greg gathered his things and stumbled out of the bar. The anxiety of the room followed him out closer than his shadow could.

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“Who could forget that Jaguars Super Bowl?” Jose joked, and his team chuckled.

“Ha! Yeah, I wasn’t gonna be that guy, figured I’d just roll with it.”

“Well, we appreciate you hanging with us a bit,” Allie said, “Greg, can, you know--”

“He can be a lot.” Hakim cut in, which made Mike laugh. “Really good guy, good boss, but he can be a lot.”

“You know,” Mike said, “I thought I could feel you guys laying it on a bit thick with those laughs.”

“Again, great guy,” Hakim smiled, “but you gotta know where your bread’s buttered.”

“Hey, don’t I know it,” Mike said, raising his glass. The four clinked glasses, and Mike finished his beer. “Rick, I’ll take another when you get a chance, please.”

“So Mike, did you play football, or do you just like watching?” Allie asked.

“Yeah actually, I played in college for two years, but blew out my knee and wasn’t going to go pro or anything like that anyway, so I hung up my cleats.”

“Ah no way,” Jose said, “where?”

“Actually played at Minnesota.”

“Golden Gopher! D1, damn, that’s crazy.” Jose butt in.

“Ah yeah, they made me walk on so it wasn’t as cool as I’m making it sound but it was a fun experience.”

“So what were you? Defensive tackle? Guard?”

“Oof!” Mike laughed, “and that’s how I know I need to get back into shape. I was actually a safety but I only played special teams.

“Oh no! Man, I didn’t mean anything by that.” Jose’s face dropped.

“No worries at all my man, no offense taken. Blew out my knee and and that was pretty much it for the old waistline,” Mike patted his belly which lunged forward and over his belt. “Probably bigger than all of these guys on the field tonight.” he laughed, nodding towards the TV.

“Oh come on now, some of these guys are like 300 pounds, right?” Allie asked.

“I mean, muscle weighs more than fat.” Mike joked, as a relief to the group.

After a few more moments of chit chat, the four sat back down at the bar and conversation dwindled. Mike again sank into his seat to take in the game, which was now approaching halftime.

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